Chard Development has applied to the City of Vancouver to revise their office project at 8 East Broadway to switch uses to rental residential.

The site is located at the southeast corner of East Broadway & Ontario Street in the ‘Broadway Shoulder Area East – Area B (MBSB)’ sub-area of the Broadway Plan.

A previous rezoning for the site was approved in 2020 for a 12-storey office building totaling 125,000 SF. Changing market conditions and the subsequent adoption of the Broadway Plan has prompted Chard to seek an alternate development scenario for the 16,100 SF site.

The new proposal is to permit a 14-storey rental residential building, including:

• 152 market rental units;
• 55 studios, 42 one-bedrooms, 38 two bedrooms & 17 three-bedrooms;
• 4,200 SF of retail space on the ground floor;
• Floorplates ranging from 7,300 to 11,700 SF;
• A total density of 7.5 FSR;
• A building height of 148 ft.;
• 74 vehicle parking spaces and 320 bicycle spaces; and
• A publicly accessible bike share station.

The Broadway Plan requires a minimum of one floor of ‘job space’ above the ground floor. The application by Chard is requesting consideration of market rental on the second floor, which is a deviation of policy.

The architect for the project is MCMP Architects.

The site was acquired in 2021 for $42,000,000, or $336 per buildable SF based on the revised application.

Value Group has submitted their rezoning application for a 16,136 SF site that they own at 24 E Broadway & 2520 Ontario Street; at the Southeast corner of the intersection.

The site is currently zoned C-3A. The rezoning proposal would allow for a 12-storey office building at over twice the density permitted in the current zone. The proposal includes:

• 20,284 SF of retail space;
• 104,755 SF of office space;
• Building height of 148 ft.;
• A total density of 7.75 FSR;
• 6 levels of underground parking, including 230 vehicle parking and 68 bicycle parking.

The application describes the design rationale: “The proposed project is a 12-storey mixed use retail/office building. The ground floor along Broadway is fronted by retail space that reinforces a scale of walking, and shopping with continuous weather protection.

There is also below-grade and above-grade retail space connected to the ground floor by stairs, an elevator, and floor openings to create visual connection with the street and the other levels of retail. On the west of the site, the ground floor is pulled back to allow a seating plaza adjoining a proposed cafe. An on-site public bike share along the Ontario Greenway adds bike capacity adjacent to the Ontario street bike path and pedestrian interest to the corner plaza.

Above the retail base, floors of office are grouped into three distinct ‘blocks’. The lower two blocks are large floor-plate offices which form a podium; rising no taller than eight floors thus avoiding shadowing of the north sidewalk of Broadway from spring to fall equinoxes. Atop the podium, a shared amenity rooftop is open to the building’s office users, and serves as an on-site gym and end-of-trip facilities. Five upper floors of office tower rise above the planted amenity deck.”

This application is being considered under the Metro Core Jobs and Economy Land Use Plan.

The architect for the project is Formosis Architecture.

Value Group acquired the site in 2017 for $13,250,000, or $106 per buildable SF based on the application. The site is currently improved with an older 3-storey office/retail building.